Is There Another Name?
by Gini.R
Summary: "It was a gift from his mom. I.. don't want to take that away from him. Is there another name you'd like?" Jason understood. He thought about his own mom. He thought about the night Robin helped him-helped his mom. "Uh, I'd like to be Bluejay." He was glad Bruce knew, some nicknames were sacred.


**Possibly a one-shot. Might continue with other snippets. Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

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Jason narrowed his eyes at the grinning boy before him. The older boy had been following him for the last fifteen minutes despite Jason's scowl and rude attitude.

"Just tell me what we're looking for, kid, and let me help. You shouldn't be out here this late and when it's so cold."

He had a slightly foreign accent, but Jason couldn't place where it was from. He felt his lip curl in another scowl. "I told you, I don't want your help."

A gloved hand waved away Jason's rudeness. "Well I'm here anyway. So what is it? Did your dog run away?"

He kept walking. If he let the boy help it would be a lot faster, and if his mom was unable to walk, two children had a better chance of getting her home than one. Sighing in defeat and slight embarrassment, he whispered. "I'm looking for my mom. She went out around 7:30 and hasn't come back."

The grin fell off the other boy's face and he nodded seriously. "Okay. Do you know where she went? We could try and follow her steps."

Jason muttered a small "yeah" and kept trudging on. Maybe he should just come clean to the Boy Wonder; leave no surprises. "She went to see her dealer."

To his credit, Robin's demeanor didn't change. He just kept walking alongside Jason with a determined stride.

After twenty minutes of twisting through the streets and alleyways and shivering in the cold, Jason spotted a familiar figure on the ground, leaning against a garbage can. His breath caught in his throat as he sprinted forward, ignoring the numb blocks his feet had become. His mom's eyes were open but unseeing, her lips were blue and he couldn't see any puffs of air coming from them in the cold night. He patted her face before reaching numb and trembling fingers to her neck desperately.

A warm hand caught his wrist and he turned frantic eyes to the Boy Wonder. Robin dropped his gloves on the ground and reached over to his mom's neck.

"She's alive. Okay." He reached into a pocket on his belt, pulling out a large syringe and a jar. "I'm going to give her this. Heroin overdose. Adrenaline to the heart. Okay?"

Jason just nodded, his breath was getting faster.

"Hey, kiddo, I'm going to have you hold her. Stand behind her and keep your hands on her shoulders."

Robin guided his hands to his mom's shoulders. He prepared the syringe before plunging it straight into her chest. A split second later and she was gasping and tears were running down both her cheeks and Jason's.

After monitoring his mom, Robin helped Jason drag her back to their apartment. He let it go surprisingly easily when they both firmly protested a trip to the hospital. He stayed and comforted Jason for half an hour after they'd gotten her in bed. He ruffled Jason's hair as he stood on the fire escape outside. To Jason's small "thank you", he simply replied with a small "you're welcome".

Four days later, Robin appeared on their fire escape again. "I can take you flying? I'll take you to the roofs."

Jason scowled at him. "You'd just drop me, you're barely taller than I am."

Robin looked a little offended before laughing it off. "I won't. I wouldn't have offered if I didn't know I could handle it, shrimp. I take falling very seriously."

Jason scowled again but climbed on the older boy's back.

The feeling was indescribable. The cold wind made his eyes tear and his nose run and he had no shame in wiping snot all over Robin's caped shoulder. The height made him dizzy and exhilarated and the drops made his chest fill with a quivering, excited fear. After some time, they were standing on a roof, looking over the edge of the wall at all the lights and shadows intertwined throughout Gotham.

"It's so…" _beautiful_ wasn't the right word. Gotham was dark and dirty. The buildings were black and the light was grey, but the architecture was intricate and haunting and impressive anyway.

"Enticing." Robin supplied.

Jason didn't know what the word meant, but nodded anyway. He'd have to look it up in the dictionary at school. He studied the boy next to him as a thought occurred.

"So where's the Bat?"

Robin dropped his gaze from the skyline for a second before turning to the younger boy and shrugging one shoulder. "He's around."

Four weeks later, Robin went missing. Jason had been paying attention to the news and gossip, and after a week and a half of Batman's red-colored shadow missing from the vigilante's side he was officially declared missing.

Four months later, Jason came home from school to find his mom on the couch, overdosed and dead. Jason no longer had time to keep up with news on Batman and Robin. He was busy surviving on Gotham's filthy streets.

Four years later, a tenacious and slightly insane Jason started dragging the tire of a well-known Batmobile behind a nearby garbage can in a dark alleyway. They would catch him a lot of money.

As he was halfway through with the third tire, he heard a rumbling voice come from behind him.

"Do you know who's car this is?"

Warily, Jason turned and peered at Batman, he was standing in the alley, his arms at his sides and not appearing to be too upset, but nonetheless intimidating.

Four minutes later and Jason found himself practically adopted by Batman, who, by the way, was also the billionaire Bruce Wayne.


End file.
